Birders Flock to Russellville For Convention

Experience the delights of Fall Birding at the 2014 Arkansas Audubon Society (AAS) Fall Convention, which will meet Friday, November 14 through Sunday, November 16 at the Lake Point Conference Center on Lake Dardanelle. The convention will feature birding field trips and special presentations. Additionally, participants will enjoy a silent auction, door prizes, and opportunities to network with other wildlife enthusiasts. Friday registration lasts from 4 – 6 p.m. in the Conference Center.
Field trip participants will enjoy seeing great numbers of waterfowl, hawks, eagles, loons, gulls, pelicans, sparrows along with woodland birds.
Friday afternoon’s field trip destinations will be to Holla Bend National Wildlife Refuge and Lake Dardanelle State Park. Saturday field trips include Holla Bend National Wildlife Refuge, Bona Dea Trails and Sanctuary, Delaware Recreation Area and Cabin Creek Recreation area/Lake point Conference Center.
Friday evening’s speaker is Dr. Chris Kellner, Professor of Wildlife Science, Arkansas Tech University. His program is titled “Cerulean Warbler Responses to Fire and Ice in the Ozark National Forest.”
Saturday evening’s highlight is “Birds in a Changing World” with Guest Speakers Tom Auer, IBA Program Biologist, National Audubon Society and Lynsy Smithson-Stanley, Deputy Director of Climate and Strategic Initiatives, National Audubon Society; NAS staff will present startling new research on the threat of climate change to North American Birds.
Also Saturday, Adam Lansky will deliver a presentation entitled “Property Rights, Not Pipelines.” Additionally, discussions on fighting climate change and protecting Arkansas’ birds will be held with Lynsy Smithson-Stanley from the National Audubon Society.
Convention registration is $20 per person. To reserve a room at the Lake Point Conference Center, call (479) 356-6240 and request that you want a room in the Audubon block. The convention is open to non-members. Children under 16 are free. Meals are an additional charge. A downloadable brochure about the society, convention registration form, and complete meeting agenda are available at http://www.arbirds.org/.
If you have questions about the convention, please contact Karen Holliday at [email protected]
The biannual AAS conventions are excellent opportunities to watch birds, meet other birders, learn, and have fun. Find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ArkansasAudubonSociety.
The Arkansas Audubon Society, a nonprofit all-volunteer organization founded in 1955, aims to foster a greater knowledge of Arkansas’ natural history through observation, investigation, education and publication; and to be a potent force in the conservation of all the state’s natural resources.